Netherlands in Eurovision Song Contest Odds

The Netherlands announced, back in November 2017, its representative at the next Eurovision, which will take place on 8, 10 and 12 May at the Altice Arena in Lisbon (Portugal).

The Dutch public television, AVROTROS , selected Waylon as its representative in the Portuguese capital. An artist who reappears in the contest and who will not have anything easy to overcome his previous performance in the contest, he achieved the second position in Copenhagen in 2014 as part of the duo The Common Linnets with Ilse DeLange. There, they performed the song 'Calm After the Storm' , and were only surpassed by Conchita and her 'Rise Like a Phoenix'.

'Outlaw in Em' is the name of the song with which the musician born in Apeldoorn will try to get hold of the crystal microphone that he stroked four years ago. This has been announced in the program 'De Wereld Draait Door', where the artist has shown five issues that could well be worth as proposals for the contest, finally choosing the aforementioned.

A few minutes before the actual announcement, "Outlaw in 'em" was released on Spotify, unlike all the other songs: this gave rise to a certain number of speculations about the actual use of the piece as the Eurovision choice of the countries Netherlands.

For the staging, Waylon has relied on the Belgian producer Hans Pannecoucke , who pas part of the artistic direction of the Spanish candidature of 2017 headed by Manel Navarro , which achieved a poor result. However, he has also directed the performances of The Common Linnets in 2014, as well as Douwe Bob and Laura Tesoro in the 2016 edition, who achieved very good positions in the Grand Final.

He has four solo albums, all entered in the Dutch top 10; in particular, "Heaven after midnight" rose to number 1 of the Dutch charts in 2014. In Europe, however, Waylon owes its fame to "Calm after the storm" and the project The Common Linnets, which was left shortly after the Eurovision 2014. That second place, totally unexpected and not foreseen by anyone before the semifinals, has launched in a new dimension.

Waylon filmed his official introductary postcard at the medieval Moorish castle, Castelo de São Jorge, or Saint George’s Castle, in the centre of Lisbon. Built on a hilltop overlooking Portugal’s bustling capital and the Tagus River, the emblematic castle has had a turbulent history – very fitting for the little outlaw in Waylon. Today, the picturesque fortification is a National Monument owned by the Portuguese Republic, and protected as a cultural heritage site.

After bringing the Netherlands back to the podium 39 years after the last time, Waylon is once again aiming for quality to hit the podium, whether it is a result in the top ten or another podium, or even something more.

The country failed to make it out of the semi-final for eight years between 2005 and 2012, before Anouk’s “Birds” finally broke the duck in 2013 to finish ninth – paving the way for the Common Linnets to take the runner-up spot the following year. And since then it’s been far better news for the Netherlands, who missed out in 2015 but returned to the final with Douwe Bob’s “Slow Down” in 2016 and again with “Lights and Shadows” by female trio O3GNE – both of which finished in eleventh place in the final.

Odds on Eurovision Song Contest 2018: Will Netherlands qualify for the final?